Leaking motor mounts...o.k. to drive on it until replacement arrives

[ScottArizona]

Hey guys,

I was changing the oil today and jacked the car from the engine jacking point. I had seen the debates regarding whether this is hard on the motor mounts, and now I believe it, as my motor mount started spewing fluid after I got the car in the air.

So, needless to say, I'll be replacing the mount soon...just need to know if I can harm my car by driving on it for a few days, as its going to be hard to get this done over the holiday. I lost about a 1/4 cup of fluid out of the passenger side mount. Any advice would be great. Thanks guys. Scott.

[Orient Express]

Scott:

I made some comments on your situation over on the Rennlist board, and to sum up, Jacking your car up on the engine probably was not the root cause of the failure. Given the age of your car, and the heat of where you live, the mount was probably well on its way to failure when it broke. It was very fortuitous that it broke when you were around to see it. Mounts like on the rear of the 996 can break, and the car will continue to be driven for months or even years before the driver notices and replaces the mount.

So to answer your question, sure you can drive the car with one broken mount, but you should change it out as soon as you can. Changing the mount is a simple 3 bolt DIY operation.

Simply take the bolt out from the bottom where the mount bolts to the rear engine carrier brace, and then take the 2 bolts off on top (in the engine compartment) where the mount is fastened to the chassis. You will have to take out the air box or the secondary air pump off depending on which mount failed.

[GranburyChuck]

Exact same thing happened to me today. I jacked the car up so I could change the oil. I got in the habit of using the engine as the rear jack point because lowering springs that I previously had on the car made it too low to put anywhere else. As I was raising it up noticed this oily substance coming out and sure enough traced it to the engine mount. I won't jack from the engine again! Merry Christmas present. Just one more thing to fix.

[RCasto]

I replaced mine (MY02 C2) last month for the same reason. What a difference new motor mounts made. It cured a shifting problem that I had assumed was a failing throwout bearing. Mine must have been worn out since I bought the car two years ago.

[ScottArizona]

After replacing my mount (very easy diy, by the way), I don't think the jacking caused the failure. I'm pretty sure the failure had already occurred, and that the jacking from the engine changed the interface angle betwee the motor and chassis enough to cause the oil to leak out of the already damaged rubber part. The basis for this impression is both the amount of trauma to the mount when I removed it (it was basically totally shredded), and the fact that the mount seems to leak only when the engine is jacked up (the leak stopped the instant I let the car down, even though I could tell after removing the mount that there was still fluid in there). Scott.